The Upper Deck Company v. Panini America, Inc.

Background 23 On August 24, 2020, Plaintiff Upper Deck Company (“Plaintiff” or “Upper Deck”) 24 filed the operative second amended complaint (“SAC”) against Defendant Panini 25 America, Inc. (“Defendant” or “Panini”) alleging six causes of action for 1) false 26 affiliation/false endorsement, false advertising, and unfair competition under the Lanham 27 Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1125(a); 2) trademark dilution under the Lanham Act, 15 U.S.C. § 28 1125(c); 3) trademark infringement under 15 U.S.C. § 1114; 4) commercial misappropriation; 5) right of publicity under California Civil Code section 3344 et seq.; and 6) unfair competition pursuant to California Business & Professions Code sections 17200 et seq. (“UCL”). (Dkt. No. 28, SAC.) Upper Deck is a worldwide sports and entertainment company that produces sports memorabilia products, trading card products, as well as many other sports and entertainment products. (Id. ¶ 2.) For decades, Upper Deck has been and continues to have an exclusive license with Michael Jordan (“Jordan”) to “use his image, name, likeness, marks, and other rights on and in connection with, among other products, trading cards.” …